Baseball Game Preview: Otter Valley Otters vs. Fair Haven Slaters

Otter Valley is 8-2 against Fair Haven since May of 2019 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. The Otters will head out on the road to take on the Slaters at 4:30 p.m. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this match.

Otter Valley is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Vermont's top teams: Hartford, who was ranked 16th at the time (Otter Valley was ranked 14th). The Otters took a 5-2 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Hurricanes on Tuesday. The Otters have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Otter Valley saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jacob Warrell, who went 2-for-3 with one run. Another was Max Potter, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.

Fair Haven couldn't beat Hartford on Wednesday even though they stacked six runs on them in the third inning. The Slaters came up short against the Hurricanes, falling 17-7. The Slaters haven't had much luck with the Hurricanes recently, as the team has come up short the last eight times they've met.

Otter Valley's loss dropped their record down to 5-5. As for Fair Haven, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-7.

Otter Valley skirted past Fair Haven 3-1 when the teams last played back in April. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Otters since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.